Unit type radiator cabinet



June 12, 1934. F- N WQODMAN E1- AL 1,962,225

UNIT TYPE RADIATOR CABINET Filed July l5, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l I v @L L f @Jen/4719.

June12,1934. F. N, WOODMAN EVAL 1,962,225

UNIT TYPE RADIATOR CABINET Filed July 15, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 12, 1934- F. N. wooDMAN Er Al.

UNIT TYPE RADIATOR CABINET y Filed July 13, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 n June 12, 1934.

F. N. WOODMAN El' AL.

UNIT TYPE RADIATOR CABINET Filed July 13, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 wg Q/| Franc/.5 7! 7175062.77774 D, Car s Patented June 12, 1934l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UNIT TYPE RADIATOR CABINET Application July 13, 1931, Serial No. 550,508

10 Claims.

i This invention relates to cabinets used for enclosing steam or hot water radiators in dwelling houses and other building structures. These radiators vary greatly in size and particularly .5 in length and height, necessitating a great number of sizes of cabinets to fit the many different sizes and shapes of radiators. It is expensive to make each cabinet up on special order and it is impossible to carry the necessary range of sizes of cabinets in stock unless a very large amount of capital is invested.

It is the general object of our invention to provide a unit type cabinet which may be easily built up of a relatively small number of standard l` structural parts to any desired dimensions.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for securing these structural parts in assembled relation.

Our invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be herein after described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

`A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of our improved radiator cabinet;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

' Fig. 3 is a partial front elevation of a slightly modiiied combination;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged front elevation of certain parts of the cabinet;

Fig. 5 is a partial plan view, looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary plan views of certain parts to be described; Y

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan View, taken along -the line 8-8 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is a sectional side elevation, taken along the line 9-9 in Fig. 4;

. Fig. 10is an `enlarged fragmentary front elevation of certain parts, partly in section;

Fig. `1l is a sectional plan view, taken along the line 11-11 in Fig. 10; Y

Fig."12 is Aa' plan View of a corner pocket member; Y

-'Fig. 13 is a side elevation thereof, looking in the direction of the arrow 13 in Fig. 12;` fFig.' l'4isadetail 'sectional elevation, taken along" the line 14--14 in Fig. 1,1;

Fig. 15 is a partial plan view of an assembly bar;

\ Fig. 16 is a partial end elevation of the cabinet, looking in the direction of the arrow A16 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 17 is a detail sectional plan View, taken along the line 17-17 in Fig. 16;

as indicated at and 31 in Fig. 11, to provide Fig. 18 is a partial sectional plan view, taken along the line 18-18 in Fig. l, and

Fig. 19 is a partial sectional front elevation, taken along the line 19-19 in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, our improved radiator cabinet comprises front corner members 10 (Fig. 1), back corner members 11 (Figs. 16 and 18), a back plate 12, end panels 13, front sectional panel members 14, and top or cover portions 15 and 16. The back plate l2 is secured 65 to the back corner pieces 11 by bolts 17 (Fig. 18).

The corner pieces 10 and 11 and the end panel 13 which collectively form each end of the cabinet are secured together by an upper assembly bar 20 (Fig. 5) and by a corresponding lower as- '(0 sembly bar 21 (Fig. 11). The front corner pieces 10 and a plurality of the front panel members 14 are secured together by an upper assembly bar 22 (Figs. 4 and 5) and by a lower assembly bar 23 (Figs. 1Q and 15).

The end panel members 13 will be supplied of diiferent lengths and of widths corresponding to different Widths of radiators. The back plates 12 will be made of any desired length and height, these plates being commonly plain rectangular pieces of sheet metal. The corner members 10 and 11 are standard and vary only in length for different shapes and sizes of radiators. They front panel sections 14 are also standard and vary only in length. They are of relatively narrow width and may be assembled in any desired number to build up a cabinet of any required length.

It is possible, therefore, to build up any size cabinet from a comparatively small stock of standard structural parts by using the unit construction herein shown. These parts can be stored in very much less space than is occupied by complete cabinets and it is possible to ship the cabinets in knocked-down condition, thus effecting a'great saving in space and a corresponding reduction in freight rates.

Having briefly described the general features and the method of assembling our unit type cab inet, we will now describe the details of construction thereof.

Each front corner member l0 is formed of a single piece of sheet metal, bent to the angular section clearly shown in Fig. l1. The side edges of the member 10 are bent rearward and inward,

finished end surfaces and also to increase the stiffness.

Thelower end of each corner piece 10 is bent rearward and upward, as indicated at 32 and 33 in Fig. 14. The upper ends of the corner pieces 10 are bent horizontally inward, as indicated at 37 in Fig. 5, and then downward as indicated at 38 (Fig. 4). The ends of the edge portions 30 and 3l are cut away, as indicated at 35 in Fig. 14, to allow clearance for the upper and lower assembly bars 20, 2l, 22 and 23. The outer ends of the horizontal top flanges 37 of the corner pieces 10 are slit, as indicated at 40 in Fig. 6, to provide tongues 41 for a purpose to be described.

The front panels 14 (Figs. 8 and 9) have their edge portions bent rearward and inward, as indicated at 43 and 44, (Fig. 8) and also have their top and bottom ends bent rearward, as indicated at 45 in Fig. 9, and then downward and upward respectively, as indicated at 46 and 47 (Fig. 9).

The corner pieces 16 and front panel sections 14 are assembled by inserting an upper assembly bar 22 under the top flanges 37 of the front corner pieces 10 and under the top flanges 45 of the panel sections, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The upper assembly bar 22 is provided with rectangular openings 50 near each end which are positioned directly underneath the tongues 41 (Fig. 6) when the parts are assembled. It is then a very simple matter to use a nail or punch and drive the tongue 41 downward into the opening 50, thus securing these parts rmly in assembled relation.

The end panels 13 are formed with side, top and bottom flanges, all bent rearward and inward, as previously described for the front panel sections 14, and the end panels are similarly assembled with the front and rear corner pieces by inserting upper assembly bars 20 and then striking the tongues 41 downward into similar rectangular openings 51 in the ends of the bars 20.

It will be noted that the rear portions of the back corner pieces 11 are left flat instead of being flanged, so that the back plate 12 may be conveniently secured thereto by bolts 17 as shown in Fig. 18.

For assembling and securing the lower parts of the cabinet together, we utilize the construction shown in Figs. 10 to 15 inclusive. We provide pocket members 55 (Figs. 1 and 16) tting over the lower ends of the corner pieces 10 and 11. The detailed construction of these pocket members is best shown in Figs. 10, 12 and 13.

Each pocket member 55 comprises bottom portions 56, outer flange portions 57, inner flange portions 58, and a threaded nut 59. The parts 56, 57 and 58 may conveniently be formed from a single piece of sheet metal, bent to the shape indicated in Figs. 12 and 13, and secured in assembled relation by welding the nut 59 to the under side thereof. A hole 60 is provided in the bottom portions 56, in a alignment with the tapped hole in the nut 59, so as to permit a screw to project therethrough.

Adjustable feet 62 (Fig. 10) are provided with screw portions 63, threaded into the nuts 59 and projecting upward through the openings 60. The lower assembly bars 23 are provided with notches 64 (Fig. 15) through which the screws 63 extend, thus preventing endwise separation of the assembled parts.

The screws 63 thus serve not only for vertically adjusting the cabinet, but also serve as securing devices for the assembly bars 21 and 23.

The panel members 14 may be perforated, as indicated in the drawings, or may b e otherwise decorated in any desired manner.

After the front, back and end portions have been assembled as described, the top portions 15 and 16 may be added. Each top portion 15 has depending front, rear and end anges (Figs. l and 19) and a shorter flange 71 at one end. U-shaped members 72 (Fig. 19) are also secured to the under side of each cover portion l5 adjacent the outer end thereof and extend forward and rearward in endwise spaced relation (Fig. 2).

The assembled relation of these parts is best shown in Fig. 19, with the flanges 70 extending downward over the front, end and rear side of the cabinet and with the flange 7l and U-shaped member 72 resting on the top edges of the end and front panel sections and corner pieces.

The center top portion 16 is similarly provided with front and rear flanges 74 (Fig. l) of substantial depth and with shorter end flanges 75 (Fig. 19), adapted to rest on the tops of the end cover portions 15. The center cover portion 16 overlaps the end portions 15 and each length of cover portion 16 will take care of a variation in length corresponding to two or three front panel sections.

A slightly modied construction is shown in Fig. 3, in which the center top portion extends under instead of over the end top portions 81. With this construction, the end portions 81 will always appear of the same length, while the ends of the center portion 80 extend to different distances under the end portions.

One of the end panels 13 is preferably provided with a door 85 (Figs. 16` to 18) which may be raised to give access to the radiator valve. The end panel 18 is cut away between the side flanges, as indicated in Fig. 17, to provide an opening for the door, which is slidable upwardly between the side flanges of the panel 13.

A circular opening 86 is provided in the panel 13, said opening having a narrow or slotted entrance portion 87. A stud 88 is rotatably mounted on the door 85 and is slabbed of to provide a portion 89 of full depth but of reduced thickness.

The stud 88 may be used as a handle for raising the door and the stud may be turned after it has passed through the slot 87. When the reduced portion 89 of the stud extends horizontally instead of vertically, it cannot pass through the slot 87 and the door is thus conveniently held in raised position.

Having described the details of construction of our improved radiator cabinet, it will be seen that the cabinet may be easily and economically constructed from a limited number of standard parts and that from a stock of reasonable size cabinets of any desired shape and dimensions can be easily assembled.

Furthermore, the assembly is so simple that cabinets may be shipped in knocked-down condition, in which condition they are much less liable to injury and are also much less bulky than when fully assembled, as has been previously necessary.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:-

1. A unit type radiator cabinet having a top and comprising end portions, a plurality of relatively narrow front panel sections, assembly bars extending through the upper and lower ends of tively narrow front panel sections, an assembly bar extending through the upper ends of said panel sections, and having openings near the ends thereof, and said end portions having tongues adapted to be offset into said openings.

3. A unit type radiator cabinet having a top and comprising end portions, a plurality of relatively narrow front panel sections, an assembly bar extending through the lower ends of said panel sections and having openings near the ends thereof, pocket members for said radiator end portions, and threaded screws extending through the pocket members and entering said bar openings to prevent lateral separation of said parts.

4. A unit type radiator cabinet having a top and comprising end portions, a plurality of relatively narrow front panel sections, assembly bars extending through the upper and lower ends of said panel sections, and means to secure said bars in said end portions, each panel section having top and bottom flanges and having side flanges shortened at their ends to permit insertion of said assembly bars in said top and bottom flanges.

5. In a radiator cabinet having a top, end portions and front panels, corner pieces of angular cross section, each bent from a single piece of sheet metal, and pocket members fitting over the lower ends of said corner pieces, said pocket member being formed with means to hold the corner pieces in predetermined angular relation.

6. In a radiator cabinet having a top, end p0rtions and front panels, corner pieces of angular cross section, each bent from a single piece of sheet metal, pocket members fitting over the lower ends of said corner pieces, said pocket member being formed with means to hold the corner pieces in predetermined angular relation, and foot members vertically adjustable in said pocket members.

7. An end member for a radiator cabinet comprising an end panel having an opening therein, a door vertically slidable in said opening, and means to hold said door in raised position, said holding means comprising a stud slabbed off at the sides and cooperating with a slotted opening in said end panel above said door opening.

8. A radiator cabinet comprising sides and ends forming a casing, and a top formed of three overlapping end and center members, self-adjustable to different lengths of cabinet, each end top member having a spacing device near its outer end edge and having a flange at the opposite edge, by which device and flange said end top member is supported on said casing.

9. As an article of manufacture, a radiator cabinet front panel section of relatively narrow width formed of a single piece of sheet metal having its side, top and bottom edge portions bent backward and inwardly offset to provide angular flanges, and with the ends of the side flanges cut away to provide clearance between said side iianges and the top and bottom anges.

10. A unit type radiator having a top and comprising end portions having angularly extending front portions, a plurality of relatively narrow similarly formed front panel sections, upper and lower assembly bars, means to secure the bars to the front portions of the end portions, and means to secure the panel sections to the bars.

FRANCIS N. WOODMAN. GEORGE W. NELSON. HERBERT SMITH. 

